Bobette and Warren Wilson operate a cattle farm in rural Audrain County. They were honored Feb. 20 at the annual Audrain Agribusiness Agricultural Appreciation Dinner with the 2019 Dale H. Schnarre Rural Citizen Award. [Charles Dunlap/Mexico Ledger]

A visitor to Warren and Bobette Wilson’s farm likely will be greeted by some of their four-legged friends.

The curious and friendly dogs are a reflection of the Wilsons, who are both from multi-generational agriculture families.

While they see themselves as just one small piece of agricultural life in Audrain County, others see them as central to that life. They were honored Feb. 20 with the 2019 Dale H. Schnarre Rural Citizen Award at the Audrain Agribusiness Agricultural Appreciation Dinner.

The award came as a complete surprise for the couple and they still do not know who nominated them.

“We feel like there are a lot of people in the community that give,” Bobette said. “It takes a whole community working together to make things click. We did not feel like we needed to be honored. It was very nice. It was quite an honor.”

The couple knew Schnarre personally, who was a specialist with University of Missouri Extension. The Rural Citizen Award has been given annually since 1974.

“It is really nice to be recognized by people you know,” Warren said.

The Wilsons have spent their whole lives in rural Audrain County. They live near Thompson on 850 acres, where they have row crops and cattle.

Their farm is certified organic, which means they do not use pesticides or herbicides on their crops and weeds typically are mechanically removed. Their cattle operation also is natural, which means no antibiotics or other similar treatments of mass-marketed cattle.

Because of these practices, they are able to ask premium prices for their products. Much of their corn is sold as feed for organically raised poultry, Warren said. Their soybeans also are sold as feed, but do make it into some consumer products.

Their son, Doug, also helps with the operation. He manages the cows, calves and pasture ground. One of their daughters has cattle as well and also grows row crops.

The Wilsons’ activities are not limited to their farm operation. Warren was president of the Audrain County Fair Board when a new 4-H Center was needed and Bobette took on the restoration and preservation of the Arthur Simmons stables 19 years ago. Bobette also introduces three- and four-year-olds to agriculture with a yearly farm visit.

“What happened was the roof fell in on the old 4-H Center. We had to make a decision. The old 4-H center was not being rented much,” Warren said.

The building’s trusses were in such poor condition it was not insurable. The board had no idea if it would be able to afford to design, construct and maintain a new center. The roof collapse happened between 12 to 15 years ago, by Warren’s recollection.

“We had no money. 4-H is not rich and the idea of putting up a new building really weighed on my mind,” he said.

The community stepped up and within a year the funding was in place for the new center, which gets regular use. It was the location for the appreciation dinner.

“I was really proud of what the community did. They came together in a time of need,” Warren said. “I helped get it started, but there were others in the 4-H community that finished the project.”

The Wilsons were active in 4-H when they were young and their children followed suit. Warren was in B and G Hustlers, as were his children. That club was named for the Brian and Gatewood one-room school houses originally located near the Wilson residence on Audrain County Road 395. The Wilsons own the property that had the Gatewood school.

Warren’s favorite part of the 4-H program is the annual dinner and auction at the conclusion of the Audrain County Fair, which includes livestock and cured hams.

“What is neat is the rural community of Mexico comes out and witnesses what those kids have done and then of course they make a big contribution to them buy buying [auction items],” he said.

Bobette started looking into the preservation of the Arthur Simmons stables in 2001. The Simmons Stables Preservation Foundation was founded in 2002. Bobette still is one of its co-presidents. The stable district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 and houses the International Saddlebred Hall of Fame on West Boulevard. The next Hall of Fame ceremony is in June, marking its fifth year.

The foundation continues to raise funds, as only half of the stables are rebuilt. Part of the preservation process, because of the stables’ condition, was to dismantle the building board by board, number them, make repairs where necessary and rebuild.

“They could not save the roof, but what you see on the exterior is all original. It has been an interesting project. I did not know what I was getting into and that is a good thing,” Bobette said.

The stables are part of a rich history for Mexico as a hub for saddlebred horse training, she said. The Simmons Stables are named for the last owner and trainer at the facility, Arthur Simmons, but the stables originally were built by Cyrus Clark.

Clark also is credited with creating the Missouri State Fair. Clark’s brother-in-law, Joseph Potts, hired a Boone County man who would become one of the most influential saddlebred trainers, Tom Bass.

Bass is known for training horses ridden by Buffalo Bill Cody and President Theodore Roosevelt, among others.

There was more than just the Simmons Stables in Mexico, Bobette said. There were multiple saddlebred operations on South Clark Street, which were owned by the Hamilton, Cunningham and Rogers families.

Bobette also likes to educate. The young students who visit each year get to meet their dogs, of course, but also their goats, llama and to learn about agriculture. Each student gets a small toy figurine of a farm animal as part of the day’s lesson.

“We live in a rural community, but about half of these three- and four-year-olds have never been exposed to a farm,” Warren said. “You see their faces when they see a tractor, a goat or a bottle calf and it is something they have never seen and it is a real eye opener for them.”

On one visit to Orscheln to get the figurines, a mother approached Bobette commenting about the purchase. Her daughter, who was with her, was one of the farm visitors about five years ago.

“Her little girl came over and took me by the hand. It really caught me off guard and she led me around my vehicle and over to their vehicle,” Bobette said.

The girl opened the door, pulled out her book bag, unzipped it and pulled out the little horse figure she chose at the Wilson’s farm.

“That had an impact on me when she did that,” she said.

Despite all of this, the Wilsons still see themselves as just one small piece of Audrain County’s agricultural family.

“There are some people out there who do a lot more than we do. We are very much homebodies,” Warren said.

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